Not the Last Paper

      As I have mentioned it is the end of the semester for me. This week is finals week, which means I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That being said I still have a few large assignments due. In my geology class I have a large assignment due called an Environmental Impact Statement. An EIS is basically a written summary of why or why not a building or construction should happen. I never thought I would have to do so much writing in my geology class. I have learned over this past semester how important it is for me to have writing skill. My English class has helped me so much in my writing process and learning. As excited as I am to be done with my English requirements for WCC I have realized that I will be writing papers for a very long time so I need to start to learn to enjoy writing.

My New Writing Experience

 Today I had to write a research paper for my sociology class as my final assignment. This weekend I went to the library to do some research and then started my pre-writing process. An odd thing happened to me while I was writing my research paper today. I knew exactly how I wanted to set my paper up, I made sure to find great sources to help support my thesis, and I was able to write with ease. I repeat I was able to write a research paper with ease…. A couple of things occurred to me today, first thing was I had no anxiety when it came to writing this paper, which for me is a very unfamiliar feeling. The second thing is I new exactly what I was talking about and what my model was, thesis, literature review and supporting arguments to my thesis. The third thing that occurred to me, which was hard for me to admit was that my teacher was right. This past semester my English teacher would tell my class after we wrote our research papers every paper after would be so much easier to write. By golly she was right! Anyway I was happy to write a research paper that I knew exactly how to go about researching and writing it, and I feel confident in the quality of my paper.

Life is Beautiful

 Earlier this week as I was on my way to work I found myself in amazement and gratitude. As I drove along a busy road that gloomy day I found myself in amazement and gratitude for all of the above. When I say all of the above I mean everything. I found myself in amazement and gratitude of weather; I was grateful to have the terribly gloomy day because it meant something was happening. I was grateful and amazed by my ears listening to music. The insanity and wonder that I function as a human being. My ears function and hear sound and music; that is a truly an amazing thing. I just couldn’t stop thinking about how awesome and amazing the littlest and most unsubstantial things in this life are. These thoughts and feelings overcame me to the point that I felt compelled to write it down and share to the void. So take a look around, revel in the beauty that is life.

Original Photo by me

Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom

     This past semester I have been talking about my research paper, my thoughts, and challenges with it. It has just occurred to me that I have been talking all about my Harry Potter paper all semester on my crazy cat lady blog and have yet to talk about My Cats! To start off I must tell you there is a reason I chose to write my research paper about a Harry Potter film; I LOVE Harry Potter. That information know known, I will tell you about my awesome cats. My husband and I have a 3 ½ year old cat named Luna, appropriately named after one of the best characters in the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood. When we first met Luna and her siblings at the Kendall County pound she was not one of the kittens running all over the place. She was very calm and usually off on her own. I know this will sound cheesy but we did not choose Luna, she chose us. Based on her demeanor and her color we knew she was Luna. Our other cat just turned 2 this fall and is the most bizarre cat I have ever known. Our handsome big boy Neville we also rescued, in a less conventional story that is too long to talk about. Neville is named after another great character, Neville Longbottom. When most people find out that my cats names are named after Harry Potter characters, it is always 2 different ways this fact presents itself. I am either asked with much excitement and hope that our cats are named after Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom or the fact comes out in conversation and people respond with a, really?? I didn’t know that, I don’t know who those characters are, or  oh, those characters.... I think anyone who has READ the Harry Potter books will understand why I love those characters so much. Honestly I could write about my cats for much longer but there is a time and a place to be over the top crazy cat lady and I am quickly reaching the top.

A blog coming to a close?

     Over the past semester I have participated in my first ever blog; never would I ever have imagined that I would have a blog. At the beginning of the semester I found it pointless and a nuisance, I would also forget about it a lot. However as the seasons have progressed I have come to appreciate it more. I know my thoughts don’t have deep powerful meaning to them, but it is sort of fun to write out to the void. Much like peer reviews, this blog has made me self analyze my writing and helped me with the writing process and editing. I have wondered if I will continue with this blog after my class is over, and my answer is… I don’t know. Part of me has thought it would be fun to write a blog about our adventures to becoming more environmentally aware and consumer conscious people. By no means do I have any intention of writing a blog for profit, but the idea of writing about our journey has some appeal.  So here I write last blog post for my class and possibly the first blog post for my journey. We shall see what happens.

Fairy Tales

    In my English class we have been learning about fairy tales. Not just reading or watching fairy tales but learning why the original fairy tales are important for children to read. As an adult it is harder to analyze fairy tales without some bias or pre-conceived notions. As a child the only fairy tales I read or watched were the Disney versions for the most part. What I was drawn to most as a child was the music or the illustrations and the animals. Since we have been talking more about fairy tales and discussing Bettelheim’s analysis on fairy tales it almost makes me view them in a different way. Not in a corrupt way but more of an appreciative way. There are definite lessons that children are intended to learn from these stories. I have been so far removed from fairy tales that I never really thought about why they are good, and why they are more than a way to occupy and amuse children.

Books books books

   With the winter break coming up and continuously on my mind, I decided to set a few goals for myself for the 4 weeks I have off. One goal I am very much looking forward to accomplishing is to read at least 2 books over the break. Now the big question is what books should I read? I am torn to re-read the Harry Potter series, or start the Game of Thrones series. There are also other books I started and never finished. This past summer I started reading “I am Malala”, but didn’t finish reading it. There are so many books but so little time! As far as break goes thought I am glad to have the conflict of what book to read rather than how many assignments I need to get done.